Govt reaffirms stance on Zim polls
Thabo Mokgola
23 March 2005
The government has reiterated its position on the forthcoming Zimbabwe elections, saying it will wait for reports from observer missions deployed in the country before making any conclusions.
South Africa is observing that country's parliamentary elections, scheduled for 31 March, in its capacity as a neighbour, as chair of the Southern African Development Community's organ on politics, defence and security, as well as part of the of the regional body's observer mission.
Addressing the media in Pretoria on Tuesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said the government remained committed to ensuring that the elections in Zimbabwe took place in a free and fair environment.
"We will not prejudge what will happen", Pahad said. "We will wait for the observer missions before we can make any comments."
He added that the missions' mandates were not only to observe but to also intervene in instances where the legitimacy of the polls could be
jeopardised.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the South African observer mission expressed its regrets at misunderstandings that arose following comments attributed to its leader, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, while in Zimbabwe.
Mdladlana was reported as saying that the Zimbabwe polls would be free and fair. He has subsequently said he was misquoted.
As a result of the misunderstanding, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, refused to meet or interact with the SA mission. However, the two parties met on Monday and agreed to work together towards the attainment of credible, free and fair elections.
The SA mission said it "regrets the misunderstandings that arose and recommits itself to neutrality, impartiality and without any interference with the electoral process", committing itself to fulfilling its mandate "without fear or favour".
"The mission is determined to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe exercise
their right to choose their leadership without hindrance."
On Tuesday, the mission met with the ruling Zanu-PF party. The SA team was led by its deputy, Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi, while the Zanu-PF delegation was led by its head of external relations, Didymus Mutasa.
Since its arrival in Zimbabwe last week, The SA observer mission has met with President Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Electoral Supervisory Commission, the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition and the National Constitutional Assembly.
Source: BuaNews
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